The Sun. — London, England, 1808-01-15 00:00:00

I U n K i engagements. We, shall not lay any stress upon the tone of all this paragraph, in which Russia is represented as - "yielding in a moment of -de spondency 'and alarm !" The Russians will an swer it better than ourselves, We.tvill otily observe 'the differer.Ce which subsists between the Declara tion of Russia and the Answer of England. We find in.the first, the noble language of a Prince who reapeets. supreme rank. : and the dignn of 'nations, and 'who,' if he speaks of faigs sharnefal- to , a State, does it only hecaose he is compelled to unfold tl:e reasons .of his complaint.' We see, pn the cohtrary, in the Allover of England, the gross insolence e{ an oligarchic club, which respets nothing, which seeks .10 humiliate by its expreasions, and which, for wantof good reasons, has recourse to calumnious imputations and insultiog sarcasms. His Majesty had much cause for suspicion, and " just -:ground of complaint. But lie abstained from the language of reproach. His Majesty deemed it necessary to'tequire'speCific explanatioos with reapeatO• those arrangements with - France, the " concealment' Of Which from his Majesty could not " but confirm the impression already received of " their chargter and tendency. But his Majesty, " nevertheless, dire6ted the demand of that.e,xpla— " riaticp to'be made, not only without asperity, or " the indication of any hostile disposition, but with thateonsiderate regard to the feelings and shoe " tiop : . of. the Emperor of 'Russia, which resulted "from the . reCollection of former friendship, and • froiniconfidence interrupted,: but not destroy " ed."' (3.) . . (3) Two great nations, equal in power and cou rage, were Shedding torrents of their purest blood for the sole interest, of the oppressors of the seas. These calamities touched the two Sovereigns : they were desirous to put ,an` end to them ;, and the Emperor of Russia, though animated by so powerful a motive, was desirous that England should . be sensible of the effeas of his antient 'attachment, and required that France should, accept his mediation; .a condition which the generosity of the Emperor of Russia ren dered less unpleasant (moires penible) to the Einp . eroi of the. French. Still it might well be so, since the mediatiOn he was called upon to..accept was that of a Prince so' recently reconcilcd , to France.; and this mediation being so' proposed, and so ad mitted, England, instead of accepting of it with eagerness; answered so great generosity by insult ing' distrust. She required that the Secret Articles set' the Treatrof Tilsit which concerned her should be communicated to her. She was answered that there were no Secret Articles which concerned her; and doubtleis, in order to dissipate an odious a sus picion, the Emperor of Russia,' Who was .always earnest to leave the door open for. riegociation be tween' Fratico and 'England', ought to have expressly fabricated such ArtiCles., Ho had . 11‘,i right to expect that such generous cares should be so ill rewarded. in truth, it is. hard to carry fUrther the forgetfulness of all decency; all feeling, and all reason. • His Majesty willingly does justice to the mo tives 'which originally, engaged Russia the great f` siruggle agOnst France, Ills Majesty avows with f' equal readtricsj, the interest which. Great Britliin " has uniformly taken in the -fetes and fortunes of the Pewers of the. Cont 'neut. But it . wotild surely " he tilt to prove that Great thitain,. who was li crhe if 4 ~ tote cif lio,itAhy with Prussia when " the war broke out between Prussia and France, had 'an interest awl a duty more direct in. espons. ing • the. Prussian (Juane' than the E.nperor of Russia ; the. Ally of his Pt ussian Majesty, the Pro- . teaor of the Nottb of Europe, and the Guarantee " of the Germanic .coOtltution." (4.) ~(4) The Ministers of London have indeed a avenge lack.ef memory. If they wished to persuade guro l v that they . were not : in connexion.with Rus pia when the War broke out between France and Prussia, they ought to etThce from the memory of every one, and withdraw 40 . 111. all the-public docu w mes, the pieces which they published cm the evi:t i ts of t •5; 0,5. Those pieces,' published by England, have made known that the Cabihet of London, in or 7 der to turn aside the tempest which was gathering at Boulogne, formed a Treaty with ithigi.itt and Austria. Tt ,was f,;ontrary to the opinion of'Prince CftAttr..Cs,and Art awn of intelligence, that an Anstrian army precipi tated itself upon theilicr.,Thefaetion which the En g. lish Government had then'at Vienna did not examine • whether it suited the Powers of the Coalition to wa i t t in the Russian troops _were United to those of flu atria. This delay of three months' was tanning to , England ; ,the long nights of autumn '.hreatencd her with too great a danger, and Cosatly;Aat, sent the Note white!) determined for War,, at the very rag* went when the army of poulogne was embarked ; the 'destiny of.MAcK Was decided at. Ulm while lttissians wereitill in Poland. W4ile England non be answered by filOs thus .puptic, how should she deny that it is for her,. and, her alene, that Austria and 7 Russia . have made War Austria did .tent delay concluding Peace; Russia .remaitted at War with .Franco. , A fterwards, n Rus'iian Pleni potentiary signed a Treaty of Peace at Paris. Rnssia did 'not ratity it ; for the sole reason, that having, in mijoncition with you, made war„.it was in con tett \v io l yol that . she wished to malt peace. it'frw, after hmlng made war for England, tt wait still fur her -sake sake that RUssia did not make peace it «as for her sake still that Russia'continued the ar; 'lt, was not fel; Prussia, for Russia owed itothinif, to thatrower : she owed nothing to . Pcod'r, because Prtutsa, after having signed at Ber lin a Treaty rat co-operation, caused it' to be inutediately disavowed at Vienna, separated Lerself,from her allies, arid conelnd'ed apart her ar ratiymews with ?ranee. The possesSion of Hano i/0," so desired by Prussia, was not only intended by Russia,' but - even against her 'interests and her It is farther' an historic 'truth, that' Prussia wilt; induced to take up arms on ' the reporter' the Treaty.of Peace signed at Parie by M. Dotipan, and iii consequence of assurances given by the Marquis pis thhi by-a secret article of that l i meaty,' Poland had bqn- ceded to the Grand Doke t;obtorrkwrik C. t This inconceivable Cabinet of deeeired the whole world, was at length caught in , her, own'toils.. _lt is hence true, that when Prussia took up arms in 1 , 806, 4 was at ihe same time arit F1.,111C,t and agaillsCßUptia it no trlte T iati, , after the-battle cif Jena 11:444 Is ' ttl r patty deeii rtireck fhb , Pnoisian army, and t [l2 French tzre., ready. at Berlin and on: the Odet;, - tlibro was l i touty.betwrOn Prtssia . and Rustart . Russia was ü bli, c d.t o march to the Vt2tula on account of 18 0 6, and in order to deflncl herself. This coil founding of the nide'recent eventq, tbis ignorance of the occurrences of our own times, is worihy , of the present Minister; of England. Their whole coriduel, finally, unfolds the selfishness and machia velista of this Cabinet. " It is not in a public declaration that his Ma " jesty can disimst the policy of having, at any par " ticular period of the war, effe6ted, or omitted to " effea, disembarkations of troops on the coasts of ", Naples.' But the instance of the war.with the .44 Porte is' still more singularly chosen tnillustrate " the charge against Great Britain of indifference to 04 the interests of her Ally a war undertaken by " Great Britain at the instigation of Russia, and . 11 :Solely for the purpose of maintaining Rtissian in " terests against the influence of France." (5). (5.) Therefore, the Emperor of Russia has no right to complain that the Cabinet of London should employ the forces of Britain for the sole profit of England, while he himself was 041n311)% engaged with the French army. Ifthe English squadron which. forced the Dardanelles had chosen to unite with the Russian Squadron • if it bad taken on board the 10,900 men , whic h were sent to Egypt, and united them to 12,000 Russians at Corfu, the at tack 'upon Constantinople would have • been an effeQual diversion for Russia. The condlia of Eng land was in a spirit totally opposite to this ; after having sustained an indelible disgrace before Con stantinople; she made an expedition to Egypt, which did not deprive the .Grand Vizier:ea single man, and 'which had nothing in common with the quarrel in which she had engaged Russia. Therefore, the Emperor of Rusta is to ascribe the whole blame to himself, since he would not wait for the succours which England was disposed to grant him. Bit these succours ought to have been sent while Dantzic was yet in the possession of KALKItEUTH. If to the 12,000 men which lay _ . down their arms and capitulated in the streets of Buenos Ayres, England had joined :the, )5,000 men which have set Copenhagen in Barnes, these forces would not, it is true, haVe afforded a triumph to the arms of Britain-- , France was in an attitude of de fence : she respetaed England enough• to expeEt greater efforts—but Russia would not have been able to complain. It was of little moment to the Cabinet of London, that two Nations of the Con tinent were massacreing each other on the Vistula : the treasures of Monte Video and. Buenos Ayres excited her cupidity, and Dantzic received no suc cours. ,His Majesty, as his Ministers affirm,. made the greatest dArts the expectations of kis dik. And what have been the effeas of these great e . ffOrts? The arrival of 6000 HanOverians at the Isle of &gen in the month of July ; that is, a month after the contest had been terminated. Was it not evident that so wretched an expedition was con ceived for no other purpose than to occupy Hanover, in case the Russiah army had been vi&orious ? Is it not evident, that it arrived at linen only for Eng lish objects ? Is it not evident; that lithe French army had been vi&orious, the aid of 60u0 men ye guld have prnduced no eitea Is it not evident,' that .1)y the month of July the , French army must have u - een either vi6torioui or beaten ? It is not evident ~. , that the 20,000 opaniards, and the 40,000 French men, from the Army'of Italy (of which a part had been placed at the disposition of France, by the secu rity given her through the EXpedition to - Egypt and Buenos Ayres), joined. to the 24,000 Dtitcb troops who were . at Hamburgh, would by the match ,of July tbrm an army more than sufficient to render futile all the efforts of England ? . " It was not, therefore, in the mouth ofJnly that succours ought to have been Sent ; it Was in .N.Plil. But the Hanoverian Legion was not then fooled ; and till the Ministers had it in their power to wit in motion, this mass of,foreign 'deserters, they had only national troops at their disposal; and. wei will hate Why they did not choose to enoloy these. The 15,000 men of Buenos Ayres, joined to the 16,000 British Militia, might have furnished in the month of April, an army of 36,000. English. That, thow ever, did not suit the Cabinet of London,: the blood of the Continent alone must flow for the defence of England. Whoever reads attentively the debates of Parliament,. will find there the developemenf : of this policy; and it is this policy alone which Russia justly complains of.. She had a right to see 40,000 English land; in the month of April, at Dantzic or at Stralsund. Has England { done so ? Not 'Was she nhle to do. it ? If she' an swer s i n the negative, she is then a very weak and miserable nation; and has -little title. to make 'so great demands upon her Allies. But what. was wanting in the Ministers was inclination ; , they wish Only for practical operations ; they ealeulate the results of war at •se much. percent they think only of profit ; and`the fields of Poland presented nothing but danger and glory. If England bad at last taken part in some battles, English ,blood must have been spilled ; the people of Great Britain, upon learning the sacrifices which war requires, would 'have wished for peace ; the mourning of fa:- thers, the Mothers weeping for, their children fallen • in the field of honour, might perhaps have produced, even in the hearts'of those Miniiters,thesatne senti, • mews which a long war has inspired in the French, the Russians, and the Austrians. The British Ca binet, in its turn, could not prevent itself frem feel ing a horror ,at perpetual war, or else the . rnen of blood who compose it would be execrated by the people. The land war is not like a war by sea :. the strongest Fleet does not require more than 16,000 'men, abundantly supplied with provisions, and hav ing no privations to suffer. The greatest sea-fight is not equal to a skirmish at land, and costs but little blood or tears. France, Austria, and Russia, em ploy in war, armies of 400,000 men, who are ex posed to all sorts of"dangers, and who are daily fighting. , The 'desire of peace arises even in the bosom el vielorn and, in Sovereigns, the fathers of their subjefts; it finds a place among the dearest sentiments of their hearts. Of all the fillips of Go vernment, oligarchy is the most severe : even that, however, is inclined to peace, when war costs so Many vietims. ‘ The 'system which influences Eng buil not to support her Allies is the consequence of her selfishness, and the effeets of the barbarous 'maxim of perpe!ual warr;:. T 414100 people do not revolt at this itle.t, hecause care is taken to remove from them tiulsacriticesof war, It is tilu4 that duri ng f our cealitiens, we have . s et: ll 4 4044 ' laugh at.the,tight .of the misfortunes of the Continent, feedits commercia „... carnage ia`which they took no sfiare. She will par e take nein ti' the esteem ckf Eutope—s)le worthy .01 tpvitig dies, wlwn she shall present berself ih the flout of On, bancl with 80,000 men : _ . then, whatever , mighLbe the eyent n she would. not wish, for a perpetual wars her people would not submit to the caprices of an inordinate ambition; her Allies would not be her vi&ims. It is in fight- mg with one'anothek o hat the Russians, the Aus. trans . , and the French have learned to esteem each other it is in fighting that they havetnade hostile and cruel passions yield., to - the desire of peace.— England has acquired her''.superiority on the Seas by treachery, at Toulon, and. in La Vendee. To the conyulsions which shehas stirred up, she has only opposed u few ships of the line; and some thousands of men, She has neither experienced the want of peace nor-the bloody losses of war. But it is natu ral that the Continent should wish for peace, and that the Continental Powers should hold The policy of England in !terror. • " The vexation of Russian Commerce 'hy Great " Britain is, in truth, little more than an imaginary " grievance. Upon a diligent examinatiou, made " by his Majesty's comtuatl,:of the Records of the " British,Court of Admiralty, there has been disco " vered only a solitory instanc,e; in the course of " the present war, , of the condemnation of a Vessel " really Russian )..a, Vessel which had cartiedataval " stores to'a port of the common Eneiny. Theie " are but few instances of Russian Vessels detained, " and none in - Which justice has been refused to a " party regularly complaining of such detention. It " is therefore matter of .surprise as welt as of eon.' " cern to his Majesty, that the Emperor of Russia " should have condescended to bring forward a " complaint which, as it cannot be seriously felt by " those in whose behalf it is tirecl, might appear " to be intended to countenance those exaggerated " declamations by which France perseveringly en " deaVotars to inflame the jealousy of other coun " tries, and to justify her own inveterate anima " sity against Great Britain." (6) (6) It is true that the Admiralty Court hai only condemned one Russian Ship, but this argument is not lets fallaciotis , : more thon one hundred Russian Ships have been obliged to change the course of their voyage, have. been. subjea to.odions searches,, and been detained in England. Since the Manifesto of the Cabinet of London thore'than twelve of those Shipi which were detained at the time 'that the Russians fought for the cause of England have,heen already condemned. It is not then to the Admi ralty Court .that application ought to have .been made to verify the occasion of Russia's complaints. It is the registers of the Craizers . . at sea,' and of . the Commanders of the ports, which ought' to have been consulted. It is a strange manner of proving- that one has done no wrong, to seek the proofs of those wrongs where they do not exist: " His Majesty did dot refuse the mediation of " the. Emperor of Russia although ..the "offer of it " was accompanied by circurnsiances of concealment which might well bare justified hiS refusal. The " articles of the Treaty ofTilsit. were not-commu " asicated to his Majesty : and specificallT that or " tick of the Treaty, in virtue of which the inedi " anon was proposed and whiehyrescribed a li " noted tithe for the - return of his Majesty's nn " swer-to that proposal. 'And his Majesty was " thus `led into an 'apparent compliance with " lotion so Offensive to the dignity of an inslepen t dent Sovereign. But theanswer so returned. by " his Majesty was not •if reftetal : it was; a cyindi " flOal ; :eeqiiptattee. TAlts:'COfitlitieris reqeireAl by' " his Majesty were—a statement:of .the basis upon " which the enemy was diSposed to treat, and a " -- cotunittitotion of the - articles of - the Peacererf ",Tilsit. ; , The. first of these conditions .was pre-, " cisely the same which .the Eitiperor of Russia " had himself annexed, not four mouths before, to " his own acceptance of the proffered niedintiina.Of " the Emperor. of, Austria. The second was tine " which his Majesty would bait: had a right to re " quire even as the , Ally of his Imperial'. Majesty ; hut Which' it would have Lien highly improvi ‘,..disot to omit, when he was invited to confideao " his Imperial Majesty,the care of his honour and " his interests." (7) (7) Sophistry and hypocrisy add to, the sentiment of disguit which is felt at reading such absurdities. However horrible' the principle of perpetual war. may be, it would be less shameful to avow it : there is a sort of greatness in boldly proclaiming crimes. England says, that she has not refuied the' mediation offered by 'the .Emperor of Russia ; and yet the very day.that her note appeared in answer to that offer, her Irons entered Copenhagen, declar ing, in this manner, war, not only against Russia, but against Austria end the.wholeof the Continent. Her answer to the Cabinet of St. Petersbutgh was read by the light of the contiogrOiion Of Copenha gen. And what was that answer ? That England wished to know the basis of 'the negotiation. How wretched a shift ! when the question involved such important interests ! Lord YARkotent . and Lord LAUDERDALE knew these bait's, Let it be asked of them, whether they' believe France wished for peace. The most desirable , basis was disclosed in the notes of Russia, since she offered her media tion for ajust daft honourable peace. England de manded a guarantee, and the Emperor of Russia of fered Isis. \Vas there on earth a guarantee more powerful and , more august ) As to the communi cation of the Secret Articles concerning you, what , right .had you to ask for thetn, 'since none such ex-, fisted' ?. What was your real intention ? To refuse the mediation. You have refused it ; and the hand which signed the reftwal wai . then reeking with the blood of Danes, the dearest and oldest of the Allies of Russia. . . . " The . complete abandonment of the interests of " the King of Prussia (who :had twice rejected " propcstils of Separate peace, from a stria adher ‘f ence to his engagements, with his Imperial Ally), " and the - eharatier of those provisions which the " Emperor of Russia was Contented to make for his " own . interests in the negotiations of Tilsit, pre " seined no encouraging' prosped of the result of any'exerliens whiph his Imperial Majesty might fc be disposed .to 'employ in favour of Great Bri tain." -(a)• (a) 'Prussia' had lost all IN States ; Memel was on the point of being taken &omits Sovereign. The Cra.,itita cot , one of the causes of dtis fOrttniate ' 04 1 / 4 - Afton; 'Since it had keen one the PASCO Of, the war, i)y insinuating to Prussi that F 5 England.. I; it by the assistance of England that the King of Prussia Ilas been extricated from a des-' perate situation ? It was the Emperor , of 'Russia who fought for him, and caused the restoration of his Crown. This is t o strange dianner of abandon ing his . Allies. The old Allies of England would be very happy - if they had on'y to complain of being _abandoned in the same way. It -is certain that did twice propose to Prussia a separ4o - peke ; but it was well understood, at a time when she had not the generous ituerposition of Ranh" in her favour, that the Prussian territory was not to_ have been evacuated until the English should bay,' made peace. I " It is not, while a French army still occupies and " lays waste the remaining dominions of the King " of Prussia; in spite of the stipulationslorthe Pros " sian Treaty . of Tilsit ; Contributions are " arbitrarily exaaed by France from that rein- , '"'nent of the - Prussian 'Monarchy, such as, in " . iiS' entire and most flourishing atate, the Prue " sian Monatthy would liavw been ' unable to " diSehargei - ,while the surrender Is' 'ilernitittl " ed, in time Of peace, of -Prussian fortresses, " which had not been reduced during the war ; , " and while:'the power of France is exerci=sed over " Prussia such shameless tyranny,' as to de-- " si„rmate end demand for; instant death, individuals : , " subjects of his Prussian Majesty, and resident in • " his dominions, upon a_charge 'of dtsrespea to ." wards theYrencli Government ,•—it is net : while " all these things are done and suffered, under . 1 " the eyes of the Emperor of Russia, and ,without " his iaerference on behalf of his Ally, thAt his "- Majesty can feel himself called upon to account ". to Europe for having hesitated to repose-an uncon " ditional-tcontidenee in the efficacy of his Imperial' " MajeSty'sinediation." - (g) .) (g.)' Thisparagraph contains only false assettiotAl No new contributions have been laid upon the . Prussian States : but those which had been imeute4 during the war were to be discharged.* All 414 countries, between the Niemen and the :Vistula& forminga Population of more than a million, bar* • been evacuated ; the refit has not ; and the reason it has not' itbecause the Treaty has not fixed the pe• tied for its- evacuation .; because the preliminary if ` - ratigements with the King of Prussia are not yet ter. 'urinated bedause the expedition to Copenhagen (nit recently thrown more uncertainly into the affairs of the North - of Europe ; because the Prussian Minister (who, according to the ancient policy of his Cabl net, has by perfidious communications given such good. information to the British', Cabinet,) is still in London; beCause English Vessels have been rec eive •,e4 i at -Memel: ; because, in s.tort, in the extraordi !LlLT circutostances in which the ass of injustice-oil the pars of . Great Britain have plaCed Eutope,ltua. sia and France must understand each other ont s'entendre),* As to the death of individuals, " yells of his Prussian Majesty, and the surrender 4 Prussian flirtreises which could not be redueeildur ing the War," 'these assertions are altogether unintel ligible. France has .restored two more fortresses to Prussia, Casiel and'Gratz. The French make war loyally,.andeertainlydo not put to death the peatZeilli subjects of conquered countries. , They do not Seize the property of individuals; they protea it. Peopla4 the Continent, read the maritime code ofEngland, atut you will see what her code on land would be were she as powerful there as she is on the ocean. ' She does not - se4e) merely the ships of the Princes with Wheat she is . at,war, but also of merchant vessels which transport private property. There is no difference it the '.eye of .equity' between mag azines of nier chanclise._ belonging to individua ls in,. conquered countries; arid-the goods of traders which are stowed {to merchant vessels. According to the relations of equity, - there is no difference between . merchant vessels and convoys of 'goods transported by laud from lianabiargli to Berlin, or 'from Trieste . to Ger" many; and have the French errnies been ever known, to arrest such convoys? Have we no t seen L o rd KniTit attempt to seize at G Leoa vesse l s w hiCh water . -Pert, and goods which were in the possession of the merchants of that city ? He did but apply on land the pririCiples of the maritime tode of England. The Aqatrians, and Prince Da Vox FfotiNzottautrt, who ,commanded them, were iedignant at such oppression; they'resisted them, and the battle of Marengo bring* ing, A few days afterwards, the-French into Gepoes .also I=lol back the security of private property'. Whence then does so different a conduct arise ? The , one is the result of the attabilarious and unjust policy` of - England,_ and the other of the liberal policy and nt France. If, on. her part, 'she were mistress of the seas, she would be seen attacking noneprotectingat ti t ) n e ed pr v o e p sse er l t s T ; o s c he tt . i so e v s u u l d bi a b e e t se o e f n tehvoesoe: States with which she riiiot he at war. It' we' wish to compare the spirit of liberality and the cwilitatioo itnthlsi applicationt c it o a tn l e pa c r o i cote o i i to, pp cfi t h . ti e j eci F i rEvei English, la h iiss c h o ,a d n e d of of the two nations, w e s h ou l d take as the terms o f the individuls and proper t y t h at are found on. OP and its alication i to pwroapreoonyilationdd,,atobsti ~; ocean. But what motive cou ld h ave i nduced the M inis; ters of• London to mention Prussia in this Manifest° Is it.the interest of Pruisia'? - &it if the . interest 0 1 . Prussia touched them, they would have, accepted tb° mediation of Rtsia. Why do they publish at this hour this indiscreet paragraph, which - clearly sheWs that the spirit which has already caused, the Cabinet of Berlin to tak e so m an y ,f a ; se steps , i s yet in' ma' tion ? Is it to .be' useful to Prussia, and to con' ciliate fur her 'the interest of France, of which, under the . present circumstances, she stands in so great need ? France has evacuated many cb! )9. England not one ; and the preliminary br sic of all these Negotiations was the titi possideas , When the French treat with their enemies, thq, either . Charige the Gover nme n ts gu ll t y o f h av i ng unite d 1 1 with. England against the interests of the Continent, or if they evacuate a conquered country, it is i n cOnsequence of adorable peace, all the conditions of I which are: observed ; and as they are never seen t ° attack their Alli es without a declaration' of war, " treacherously surpri se t h e i r cap i ta l s , s o they are nev er seen to quit a f‘rtress be6ne its fate has been deter mintd by negotiation. The Enish attack 161. the sake.. of plunde r , an d retire wh en they 'have but tlt and pillaged all before -them. This war is we" ! suited to them; for it is a war of pirates. When they once entered Copenhagen, they should love,.. re ; mained there until. peace WaS concluded.: NOW, .